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Hound app faces off with Google Now in new video, and the results are unexpected

Updated Jun 8th, 2015 10:06AM EDT
Hound Vs Google Now

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It took nine years for SoundHound to build and launch its new Hound assistant app, and all of that time and effort has resulted in a top-notch rival to more established solutions such as Siri and Google Now. In fact, we’ve seen several videos now that suggest Hound obliterates similar offerings from Google and Apple, thanks to the speed with which it serves up answers and the staggering complexity of the questions it can offer near-instant solutions to.

In a new video showdown with Google Now, however, we’re shown some new tests that definitely have some unexpected results.

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There is one Hound demonstration video in particular that is largely responsible with the reception Hound has gotten. In the video, a user speaks ridiculously complex questions in rapid succession, and Hound answers each one without skipping a beat.

The video in question can be seen in one of our earlier posts.

Subsequent videos have pitted SoundHound’s new app against rival products, and they have offered similar results, as we’ve come to expect. Hound answers crazy questions at unbelievable speeds, stirring up even more excitement for the new beta app.

According to the results of a new test performed recently by 9to5Google though, it looks like Hound’s edge over the competition might not be as impressive as we thought.

There’s no question that Hound can answer some very complicated questions in the blink of an eye, but the questions we’ve seen in demo videos often aren’t good examples of how Hound will perform in the real world compared to other apps. When Hound and Google Now were both asked more common questions that they might actually be asked in real-world situations, Google’s app performed just as well as Hound — and even better in a few instances.

The full demo video is embedded below.

Zach Epstein
Zach Epstein Executive Editor

Zach Epstein has been the Executive Editor at BGR for more than 15 years. He manages BGR’s editorial team and ensures that best practices are adhered to. He also oversees the Ecommerce team and directs the daily flow of all content. Zach first joined BGR in 2007 as a Staff Writer covering business, technology, and entertainment.

His work has been quoted by countless top news organizations, and he was recently named one of the world's top 10 “power mobile influencers” by Forbes. Prior to BGR, Zach worked as an executive in marketing and business development with two private telcos.